


What Happened In Cabo (The Two Goalies, One Team Remix)

by theladyscribe



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dallas Stars, M/M, Remix, San Jose Sharks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-20 12:39:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14261157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyscribe/pseuds/theladyscribe
Summary: And then the reality of it hits him. He has Kari Lehtonen's name on him, four days after they fucked. It's an omen, Antti is sure, but of what, he doesn't know.





	What Happened In Cabo (The Two Goalies, One Team Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silkstocking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkstocking/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Salt Water](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723837) by [silkstocking](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkstocking/pseuds/silkstocking). 



> Dear silkstocking, I hope you enjoy this take on your story. <3
> 
> I messed with the timeline a little bit - they meet in Cabo during the 2015 All-Star Break instead of the summer before.

The name appears three days after he gets back from Cabo. Antti spends the game against Anaheim breathing through tightness in his groin, praying it's not the start of an injury but unwilling to say anything to the trainers. When he takes off his gear after the 6-3 win, _Kari Lehtonen_ is spelled out on his thigh in stark black. At least it's not a pulled muscle, he thinks inanely.

And then the reality of it hits him. He has Kari Lehtonen's name on him, four days after they fucked. It's an omen, Antti is sure, but of what, he doesn't know.

Some people think a mark means you're soulmates, but Antti knows that's not true. If it were, he'd still be with his first girlfriend, whose name had appeared on his arm the day after he asked her out. She broke up with him three months later, claiming she didn't want to be with someone who planned to move to America. That was fine by Antti, who was starting to admit to himself he was more interested in men than women anyway. Leena's name is still there on his arm, snaking over his wrist. It's faded with time, the lines faint like a photograph bleached by the sun, but it's still visible.

His second mark was the first man he kissed, Joona Mäkinen, curled over his left ear. The name showed up weeks before Antti even met the man. They were introduced at a party by a mutual friend. Joona smiled and they talked for a while, and at the end of the night, Antti screwed up his courage and kissed him. Joona kissed him back before saying goodbye. They've seen each other a few times since then, but nothing ever came of it.

He has other names, too, lovers and friends and people he hasn't met yet, but none of them fellow hockey players. He runs a finger over Lehtonen's name, tracing the bold lines of it. It's messy but unmistakeable. Anyone who sees it could easily suss it out. He wonders what it means, why a one-night stand in Cabo would warrant such an obvious brand.

"Did you get a new mark?" Joe asks, startling Antti. "Someone you met on the break?"

Antti puts a hand over his thigh, hiding the name from view. Joe eyes him curiously but doesn't press. Antti shrugs, unwilling to say anything that might incriminate him later.

"Cool man," Joe says when the silence between them has stretched to the point of discomfort. "Hope it's a good one."

"Yeah," Antti says, giving him a strained smile. "Me too."

Joe claps him on the soulder and heads for the showers. He only has one mark -- his wife's name, in all capitals, across the width of his shoulders. Antti tries to imagine what it must be like, to hold only one name, to only have one person important enough to you to warrant a mark. It must be nice, never wondering what a new mark means, what a stranger's name might portend for your future.

Antti waits until everyone else is either in the showers or getting dressed to uncover the mark again. It's still there, of course, _Kari Lehtonen_ on the crease of his thigh, close enough to his groin that anyone who believes that placement of a mark means anything would get the wrong idea. Or the right idea, a paranoid part of his mind supplies, considering the circumstances in which they met.

Antti sighs and grabs his towel. He'll have to find a way to hide it or explain it away. It's too bad they're not teammates; that would be easy to explain, a goalie tandem with matching marks. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened in the hockey world.

But they're not teammates. They've barely held a conversation, let alone played together. Antti doesn't even have Lehtonen's phone number -- he doesn't even know if Lehtonen has a matching mark or if he's the only unlucky sod with a near-stranger's name on his thigh. Even if he had a way to contact him, what would he say? What _is_ there to say? He's marked, but it doesn't have to mean anything.

He tries -- and mostly succeeds -- to forget about it. By downplaying it, ignoring it, he can make it mean nothing. If anyone on the team has actually read the mark and recognized it, no one says anything. It's one advantage of it being so close to his crotch, he guesses: no one in the room is gonna stare long enough to parse it, not unless they want to make it weird.

The season draws to a close, another disappointing year, the Sharks eight points out of the playoffs. There's the threat of a shakeup looming, and Antti knows it's probably his head on the chopping block. He tells his agent to look into his options, wanting to be ready for whatever comes next.

He isn't surprised when he gets the call that his signing rights have been traded. It's a little embarrassing that he was only worth a seventh-rounder to the Sharks, but that's the vagaries of sports for you. The shock is the where: he's been traded to Dallas, where they already have a starting goalie in the shape of Kari Lehtonen.

The Stars offer him an absurdly good contract to be one half of a tandem, and Antti of course takes it. He isn't sure if his mark actually burns against his thigh as he signs the three-year deal or if he just imagines it does.

He gets welcome messages from the coaches and the captain, and some congratulations and good luck texts from his former teammates, but nothing at all from Lehtonen. Antti tries not to take it personally. He knows how he'd feel if someone else were brought in after he's been the starter for five years.

Antti flies to Dallas early, wanting to get settled before the season begins. Once he finds an apartment and gets moved in, there's not much to do. Most of the team hasn't arrived yet, and he can only spend so many nights playing with Seguin's dogs. He's bored and horny, so one evening, he puts on his tightest jeans and a t-shirt with a deep vee and heads to one of the clubs Seguin had recommended as a "good spot to get ur dick wet."

The place is a little more country than Antti had expected, but the drinks are cheap and the crowd is just the right amount of enthusiastic. He loses himself in it for a while, dancing indiscriminately with men and women alike. Eventually, he makes his way back to the bar in hopes of a drink and maybe a pick-up.

He's waiting on his beer when someone presses up behind him and says in Finnish, "Come here often?"

Antti turns and looks up into Kari Lehtonen's eyes. "First time," he says, playing along, though he's not entirely sure what the game is. "Can I get you a drink?"

Kari shrugs, but he accepts the beer Antti orders for him. He leads Antti back into the crowd, to a booth in the back where it's a little quieter. They drink their beers in silence, eyeing each other carefully. There's a lot unspoken between them, Cabo and the circumstances that have brought them together here in Dallas. The soulmark, and what it means. He'll have to bring it up at some point, but for the moment, he's content to follow Lehtonen's lead.

"Sorry I didn't call you or whatever. You know, after the trade," Kari says after he flags down a server for another round. "I wasn't sure what to say."

Antti waves the apology off. "It's fine," he says. "It was unexpected. Weird. Whatever. We're cool though, right?"

Kari nods. "Yeah. I mean, it's still weird, but. I think it'll be good. It's nice to have another Finn, anyway. There's three of us now, maybe four if that rookie d-man works out."

Antti grins. "We'll have to get together for a sauna."

Kari smiles back. "I like the way you think."

They settle into conversation after that, making plans for the upcoming season. They skirt around the question of how the goalie tandem will work on the ice, but Antti thinks that if they can be partners off the ice, it will work itself out.

After they hash out vague plans for a Finnish Independence Day party, Kari sits back and says, "Wanna get out of here?"

Antti glances around him and realizes he has no idea what time it is or how long they've been sitting here. He gulps down the last of his beer and nods.

They go to Kari's place. He offers Antti a drink when they arrive, but Antti declines. "If I wanted drinks, we could have stayed back at the club until they kicked us out," he says.

"Fair enough."

They make it to the bedroom still mostly-clothed, though Antti lost his pants somewhere in the hallway and Kari is down to his undershirt. The bed is unmade, and Kari makes quick work of stripping the sheets off it before turning back to Antti.

"Do you want to fuck me again?" he asks.

"Yes," Antti breathes. He strips the rest of the way while Kari digs around for lube and condoms.

It's a little awkward standing naked, waiting, but then Kari makes a triumphant sound and holds up a strip of rubbers. "Found them!" he says, turning. He freezes when his eyes land on Antti's hip, and oh yeah. The mark.

Antti wants to cover up again, to grab his things and go. In that moment, if there were a way to rewind the night and just stay home, he'd do it. Before he can run, Kari grabs his wrist and pulls him in. He drops the condoms on the bed and traces his fingers over the name on Antti's thigh, the letters still bold as they were when they first appeared.

"When did this happen?" he asks, looking up at him.

Antti swallows. "Three days after I got back from Cabo."

Kari lets out a little snort of disbelief. "Really?"

He lets go of Antti's wrist and pulls off his undershirt. Antti's breath catches when he sees the name on Kari's ribcage. _Antti Niemi_ reads the mark, in looping cursive.

"It showed up two days before Nill called me about the trade." He shakes his head. "I didn't know what to make of it then, but I guess it was a sign."

"A sign of what?"

Kari grins up at him. "I guess we'll find out."


End file.
